


I'm Bad at Goodbyes

by NidoranDuran



Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-07 13:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/431530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NidoranDuran/pseuds/NidoranDuran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cheren is off to begin his training as a gym leader, and gives Bianca one final farewell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Bad at Goodbyes

"Now, you be careful in Nacrene City, okay?"

Cheren rolled his eyes as he he adjusted the backpack on his shoulders. "I'll try to avoid the roving bands of art elitists and their avant-garde beatdowns." 

His mother shook her head and stuffed a paper bag in his hands. "I hope you're not going to have that attitude through your training. This is a great opportunity, don't spoil it by snarking at them until they get tired of you and send you away. That's why I arranged Juniper to give you a Pokemon in the first place." She tried to give her teenage son a kiss on the cheek, but he ducked it.

"What? No. I think I'm too old for that.."

With a sigh and a supressed laugh, she threw her arms up in surrender. "Go, have fun, and don't forget to call every night."

"If I don't forget my phone number, I sure will."

"Are you just trying to get in every sarcastic comment you can before you leave?"

"Yes."

"Good boy."

"Bye, mom." With that, Cheren set out for Nacrene City.

The black-haired boy had big expectations for himself the first time he left home. He wanted to be the strongest, wanted to be the champion, wanted to come out on top of Bianca and White, be the best of the group. Things didn't quite work out, though; his lust for power was challenged by the champion, Alder, and he had a couple existential crises along the way. When all was said and done, White won. She was the best of them, as hard as it was for him to admit it. In his attempt to carry on and get better in hopes of one day winning over his childhood friend, he was offered a position as Nacrene City's new gym leader. The retiring Lenora decided she wanted to join her husband in full-time archaeology. On Alder's reccomendation, he was off to become the region's normal-type gym leader.

He reached the end of town when hurried footsteps came up behind him on the hard ground. Their rhythm was almost second nature to him, so much so that his mouth mimed his name just as it was shouted from the runner behind him. He turned, seeing his friend Bianca as hurried as ever to catch up with him. In the old days, that would have meant she wasn't as good a trainer, but time had weathered some of his legitimate cynicism. She had proven herself stronger as both a trainer and a person than he had given her credit for.

"I was worried you already left," she panted, stopping in front of him to catch her breath, her hands pressed to her knees and her body leaning forward. "You didn't stop to say goodbye."

"I was sort of hoping to avoid the sappy ending," he shrugged. "Not exactly my strongest point, emotional moments and goodbyes. If I'm not sarcastic at any given time people worry, but if I say something sarcastic, it's a crappy note to end on."

Her posture had returned to presentability, but her head dipped down a little. "Oh. Uh, I'm sorry then. I didn't mean to put you into that sort of--"

"It's fine." His hand reached out awkwardly and landed on her shoulder. "Since you're here, I might as well say goodbye. We're going to be gone a while; my gym leader position and you being Juniper's new assistant."

"Yeah! It's great; I get to work with all kinds of Pokemon, and all those baby Oshawott!"

With a laugh, he withdrew his hand. "It'll be good. And, you'll get to stay at home. That's a good touch."

"Are you sad to be going? It's hard to tell, you're always so bottled up."

"A little bit. When we left the first time, it was the three of us. This is different. And a lot's changed."

"You'll call though, right?

"I'll try. Not sure how much time I'll have."

"Well, then ha--oh! I almost forgot!" She opened her bag and pulled a long, narrow white box out. "I got this for you!"

"That was thoughtful." He accepted it, opening the box to find a red tie lying amidst plenty of thin, pale blue paper. He'd already bought several ties, all of them black or blue. His gaze looked up to her cheerful, grinning face, noticing how she was hoping that he would like it. He rather much did, but with the way she looked at him and the expectations she probably had, his general level of enthusiasm seemed wrong. 'It's okay' wasn't going to cut it, and he wasn't about to sour that grin. "It's great. I was going to buy a tie when I got there anyway, but this is perfect. Thank you."

His appreciation was sufficient, and her smile didn't waver in the least. She let out a happy little sound, only to muffle it with her hand a second later, realizing how embarassing it was. "I'm not used to shopping for boys, so I'm happy you liked it."

Damn it, he thought, I have nothing to give her. His eyes sank down to his bag, and he wondered what his mom packed. A bag of trail mix and a sandwich, probably. Neither would even make good lazy Christmas gifts. His backpack was full of his possessions and necessities, so nothing there. Still, there was no way he could leave her giftless with how happy she stood in front of him. Ugh, he was caring, and that was just wrong. Pushing up his glasses by the pinch, though, he got an idea.

He pulled them off, clasped them, and handed them to her. "Here, take these. They're my present.

"Y-your glasses?"

"You're going to be a lab assistant, it's the sort of job that everyone expects brainy people to have. And when people look at you, they underestimate you. Even I have, since we were kids. I've been hard on you all this time, but I was wrong, and I'm sorry. These glasses, though. They make people look smart. Everyone already knows I'm smart, so I don't need them any more. So take them, and then maybe people will see that you're not the ditz everyone thinks you are."

"Uh, thanks. I think. I can't tell if you're being sarcastic."

"For once," he said with a heavy sigh, his face curling into a rare smile, "I'm not. Try them on."

She nodded, putting them on, her smile actually growing a little--something Cheren didn't even think possible. He found she actually looked cuter with them--well, for a blurry girl--though he said nothing. She looked around curiously, head leaning forward and her eyes closing a little in her attempt to see. She took a step forward and started to say something probably related to how difficult it was to see, but her ankle twisted a little and, instead, she fell right onto Cheren.

The two hit the ground, she on top of him, landing such that their faces aligned and their mouths were almost touching. They lay like that for a second, Cheren feeling the warmth enter his cheeks as a rosy colour filled into them, and Bianca chuckled nervously as she tried to get up off of him.

Cheren took the hand she offered, groaning, "Maybe you should put in some fake lenses," he offered.

"That sounds like a good idea." She squeezed his hand a little, noting that he kept a firm grip on it.

"So, I should really get going," he said, not letting go of her hand. "Quite a walk ahead of me."

"And I promised dad I wouldn't be out too long so that I could help with supper."

"Yeah, so we're both really busy and should probably go. Thanks for the tie."

"Thanks for the glasses."

They both started to turn away, still clasping each others' hands, before turning back and taking half-blind steps forward, their mouths meeting in a soft, sickeningly sweet kiss that lasted longer than it should have and made Cheren feel like a teenage girl or something. Their hands released each other when their lips parted, and both of them were glad the other's vision was impaired and couldn't see how heavily they blushed.

"B-bye!" Bianca said, turning around and, so that she could run well, taking the glasses off, setting them into the pocket of her skirt and dashing off before another word could be said.

Cheren stood there dumbstruck for a moment, pressing his fingers to his lips and trying to process what had happened, what it meant, and why the hell he gave her his only pair of glasses. Did he just do something stupid over a girl? Drawing a Pokeball from his belt, he called out his Serperior. "Okay, this is going to sound stupid, but I need you to walk me to Nacrene City."

The Pokemon shot him a mocking glance, knowing his trainer couldn't actually see it, and grabbed his hand to lead the idiot giving him orders to Nacrene City.


End file.
